The Indypendent e-news
August 16, 2012
Police in New York City arrested several wheelchair users at a demonstration sponsored by Occupy’s Disability Caucus on August 8. Demonstrators gathered in front of Gracie Mansion to protest the annual Mayor Bloomberg-sponsored event “celebrating” the Americans with Disabilities Act. The protest was focused on the mayor’s ferocious opposition to making the New York City taxi fleet accessible, as has been done in London and elsewhere. Bloomberg has stated publicly that he does not think that wheelchair users should be out on the street hailing cabs, and has publicly voiced sympathy for taxi drivers who, despite the law, choose not to stop for people with wheelchairs.
As demonstrators gathered in the street in front of Gracie Mansion chanting, “Taxis for all!” and singing solidarity songs led by the Raging Grannies, the arrests began unexpectedly. Suddenly, police began arresting non-disabled supporters of the Disability Caucus action from the rear, leaving behind all the wheelchair users. The officers handcuffed the non-disabled demonstrators as a paddy wagon roared up and screeched to a halt adjacent to the arrests. They then dragged their arrestees to the paddy wagon and threw them in. The supporters arrested included a surprised 67-year-old member of the Raging Grannies who was in mid-song on her ukulele.
Then, the row of wheelchair users at the front (of which I was a part) shut down our machines and refused to move. We further told them that the people with disabilities were the principals and instigators of this demonstration, and that they had arrested our supporters and left the principals behind. They sent up a “negotiator” who told us that we were free to leave, and eventually implored us to leave. We demanded that they release our supporters, and we told them that we would not move until they either arrested everyone or no one.
What ensued was an hour’s standoff, as they tried to figure out what to do with us. While they had a small army’s worth of hardware, vehicles and personnel on the scene, as we waited it became apparent that the NYPD did not have a wheelchair-accessible paddy wagon! After a long standoff and more arrivals of higher-ups from the mayor’s staff and the police department — and lots of phone calls to parties unseen — a decision was made to commandeer Access-a-Ride vehicles to take us to jail. (Access-a-Ride is the problematic New York City paratransit service for people with disabilities, often referred to by users as “Acc-stress a Ride.”) To their credit, the regular drivers of the hijacked vehicles told the higher-ups that they “wanted no part of this,” and so supervisors on site for the mayor’s party were forced to step in and operate the lifts and drive us to the police precinct.
At the precinct, we were made to line up along the front counter, where our wheelchairs and scooters were fastened to the rail with plastic handcuffs as dozens of officers “guarded” us. The final act of this farce was when the police told us that they would get Access-a-Ride to take us home. We told the officers they’d never do it, but they assured us that police authority would prevail. Of course, Access-a-Ride refused, saying that we would have had to make a reservation at least one day in advance, so they would not come no matter what.
The city could commandeer their vehicles to take us to jail at a moment’s notice, but no ordinary citizen using a wheelchair can arrange for transportation within the city on such short notice. Most New Yorkers do not have cars, so we must rely on publicly available transport. This is especially challenging for wheelchair users because the subway is almost entirely inaccessible and we cannot get a taxi, whether we are trying to take a child to school in the rain, or need to go to the hospital or simply wish to be part of the restless spontaneity that is New York. Mayor Bloomberg apparently does not think we have a right to this mobility, and does not recognize our right and our desire to live as ordinary New Yorkers.
This article was originally published on WagingNonviolence.org.
Comments
We're in London, we have 100% wheelchair accessible taxis in London. New York and London are both "World Capitals". Why shouldn't the taxi fleet in New York also be 100% wheelchair accessible?
This is an informative story though appalling. This is why people still say "It is so nice to see you out", out of where? "You don't look like someone is a wheelchair", what does someone in a wheelchair "look" like? How about every day people? If I choose to get a cab or ride transit and I pay my taxes like everyone else why am I being told I can't ride? Where is Rosy Parks? On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled. Parks was not the first person to resist bus segregation. Others had taken similar steps in the twentieth century, including Irene Morgan in 1946, Sarah Louise Keys in 1955, and Claudette Colvin nine months before Parks. NAACP organizers believed that Parks was the best candidate for seeing through a court challenge after her arrest for civil disobedience.
There is a big problem with getting access to participate within our society, I do not believe requiring taxis to be wheelchair accessible is the answer. Manual vs power chairs is part of the issue, for if you use a manual chair, one generally can transfer on their own to the seat of a sedan used as a taxi. The chair can be easily folded by the driver and placed in the trunk (Some drivers are a problem.). But a power chair does not have this luxury and larger vehicles are needed. To limit an individual ability to participate within function of everyday functions requiring 24-hour notice, is BS. What is being stated is: "Disabled are allowed out of their homes only after making arrangements a day a head of time. They are not to experience last minute plans with visitors, or any other activities one may wish to enjoy that one just discovered."
Disabled are "chained" to limited participation, once as was done to slaves and after slavery prior to gaining recognized as individuals having the same status or rights as others within our society!
I travel in NY for business once a month - I'm a para and full-time wheelchair user. I have NEVER had a problem catching a cab. Simple as that. Raise my arm and whistle - they stop, help me with my chair, etc.
This is crazy and if Mayor Bloomberg was disabled he would sing a different tune.
My brothers and sisters...I SALUTE YOU ALL****
As an ex-New Yorker, wheelchair user and retired rehab professional, I applaud you. Bloomberg doesn't get it and your demonstration and article showed the issues clearly. I hope the media is having a field day with this!
This is the most beautiful thing ever...(and totally horrible of course, but...the irony.)
I have had the previlege of arriving in London Birmingham and Amsterdam and halling an access cab with no wait or prior planning. This is a sin that the USA will not make it happen. A visitor cannot get taxi because they are not medically preregistered. And do not get me started on the rent a car industry.
I can't believe The Big Apple is so behind the times. It's a disgrace. I live in Seattle, and can get my motorized wheelchair on a bus from 5A to 1A. I can take light rail to the airport. I can ride the trolley to South Lake Union. I can also call the cab company and ask for an accessible cab. I occasionally have trouble with drivers who don't want to take my service dog, but it's rare. I can also take ACCESS paratransit, if I want to do the paperwork, and put up with the restrictions. The subway and taxis should be made accessible ASAP. New York needs to come into the 21st Century.
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